Montesano man with ties to ISIS to be arraigned Monday

Daniel Franey, the Montesano man who is accused of making threats against police and military personnel and claimed allegiance with the Islamic State, is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Tacoma on Monday on charges of illegally possessing firearms.

Franey, 33, was slated to have a preliminary hearing last Monday, but a federal grand jury handed down an indictment, making the appearance unnecessary.

Franey, who also goes by “Ibraheem Dawud,” according to the indictment, is charged with three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of unlawful possession of a machine gun.

The charges come from Franey’s inability to possess firearms after a protection order was obtained by a woman in Illinois several years ago. According to the criminal complaint, Franey held and shot firearms while with an undercover agent posing as a black market gun dealer. The guns were provided by the undercover agent and it is illegal for Franey to even handle them, the government has said.

Count one of the indictment charges Franey with possessing two Glock pistols, count two and three accuse Franey of possessing an AK-47. Count four charges him with possessing an AK-47 and an AR-15 and count five also states Franey illegally possessed an AK-47 and an AR-15.

A federal investigation into Franey began last summer after witnesses told law enforcement he had talked of support for the Islamic State, including discussion he had about “taking out cops” and encouraging one person to fly an ISIS flag at their house.

During his time with the undercover agent, Franey made five trips in which he believed he was a lookout during firearm sales, the criminal complaint states.

Franey shot an AR-15 and an AK-47 while with the agent during a trip to Yakima, according to the complaint.

His radical views were apparent to the agent while making the trips, as he talked about the possibility of an attack on Fort Lewis and what he believed to be a seeming necessity to murder members of the government.

“Any government agents that I’m around, I feel the duty to kill,” Franey stated, according to the complaint.

“I am scarier to the government than you guys. … I’m an ISIS guy. I know ISIS guys. I’m an ISIS soldier. … I consider myself an ISIS solider as much as the brothers over there.”

Franey was arrested at his home in rural Montesano earlier this month. Court documents state he has lived in Western Washington for about three years and sometimes worked as a commercial fisherman at Westport.

Franey is being held at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.

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